Sunday, July 15, 2007

Remember when I was looking for more book covers and jackets with no titles on the front? Designer Alister MacInnes sent this in recently.

Alister passed along in an email: "The final cover is based on that famous nightmare of getting up in front of a crowded room only to realise that you are standing in your underwear. The audience gives reference to the kinds of talks that are discussed in the book e.g. weddings, funerals, kids talks, etc."

Alister, I know you told me that this is coming out in September, but could you tell us if this is UK market only or if we'll see it in the States and elsewhere?

17 comments:

Joseph, thanks for the post. This cover is not for the UK only, it will be sold around the world.

In response to Photosynthesize’s question – there were three main reasons for using the pixel style:

1. This title is by quite a conservative author and a large number of his readers might be offended by the cover concept if it were to be executed photographicly. So by using the pixel people it softens the image, and adds a greater sense of playful humour to the cover.

2. By dropping the title and using the pixel people it hopefully opens the book to a wider market that would otherwise overlook the title. The pixel people have a contemporary note, giving reference to Machinima, Kubrick, and other book covers like J-POD, hopefully giving the title a wider potential readership. The title will also be among a lot of other titles about public speaking – so we need to get the book to jump off the shelf.

3. The budget for this cover was very tight, so a photo shoot was out of the question. And finding a cheap stock images of a guy in his underwear, standing if front of a group of people that include a bride & groom, grave stone and small children was proving difficult. ;)

It's edgy. I would not know what it is at first glance AT ALL. As a designer my first reaction would be to think that this was a book featuring a bunch of funny pixel art.

Sometimes it is great to just keep the "fun" stuff for a different title. That would be my suggestion in this case. On that note, I do not think this cover is going to increase sales or reach a wider audience. In fact I think this will be misunderstood looked at, and finally taken less seriously than if the book had a more traditional approach.

Funerals, love; that's why the gravestone. I really appreciate Al's post here -- I don't know if I ever really think about the budget constraints that must be involved in creating a cover. I think the bright colors would attract my eye. The pixelation would probably make me look closer, and then I'd be more likely to pick it up and see what it's about. Very nice, based on criteria of getting one big step closer to making the sale.

Instead of publishers giving designers the shakedown when it comes to getting great covers through - all us designers can post designs for consideration then flood the publisher with gushing comments to get them through. Hell, why not? They bend their ears to the authors dog for creative advice for crying out loud...

Like he said, the book would be on a shelf filled with public speaking books. The book will always be in a context that explains it. This cover, to me, appeals to a younger reader. Hopefully the content does too, or its an injustice.